As I was doing the study on Jerome, I came across these reasons why the Apocrypha is not inspired, makes for very interesting reading:

1.The Roman Catholic Church did not officially canonize the Apocrypha until the Council of Trent (1546 AD). This was in part because the Apocrypha contained material which supported certain Catholic doctrines, such as purgatory, praying for the dead, and the treasury of merit.

2.Not one of them is in the Hebrew language, which was alone used by the inspired historians and poets of the Old Testament.

3.Not one of the writers lays any claim to inspiration.

4.These books were never acknowledged as sacred Scriptures by the Jewish Church, and therefore were never sanctioned by our Lord.

5.They were not allowed a place among the sacred books, during the first four centuries of the Christian Church.

6.They contain fabulous statements, and statements which contradict not only the canonical Scriptures, but themselves; as when, in the two Books of Maccabees, Antiochus Epiphanes is made to die three different deaths in as many different places.

7.The Apocrypha inculcates doctrines at variance with the Bible, such as prayers for the dead and sinless perfection.

And the day following Judas came with his company, to take away the bodies of them that were slain, and to bury them with their kinsmen, in the sepulchers of their fathers. And they found under the coats of the slain some of the donaries of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbiddeth to the Jews: so that all plainly saw, that for this cause they were slain. Then they all blessed the just judgment of the Lord, who had discovered the things that were hidden. And so betaking themselves to prayers, they besought him, that the sin which had been committed might be forgotten. But the most valiant Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, forasmuch as they saw before their eyes what had happened, because of the sins of those that were slain. And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachmas of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection, (For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,) And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them. It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins. (2 Maccabees 12:39-46)

8.The apocrypha contains offensive materials unbecoming of God's authorship.

Ecclesiasticus 25:19 Any iniquity is insignificant compared to a wife's iniquity.

Ecclesiasticus 25:24 From a woman sin had its beginning. Because of her we all die.

Ecclesiasticus 22:3 It is a disgrace to be the father of an undisciplined, and the birth of a daughter is a loss.

9.It teaches immoral practices, such as lying, suicide, assassination and magical incantation.

10.The apocryphal books themselves make reference to what we call the Silent 400 years, where there was no prophets of God to write inspired materials.

And they laid up the stones in the mountain of the temple in a convenient place, till there should come a prophet, and give answer concerning them. (1 Maccabees 4:46)

And there was a great tribulation in Israel, such as was not since the day, that there was no prophet seen in Israel. (1 Maccabees 9:27)

And that the Jews, and their priests, had consented that he should be their prince, and high priest for ever, till there should arise a faithful prophet. (1 Maccabees 14:41)

11.Josephus rejected the apocryphal books as inspired and this reflected Jewish thought at the time of Jesus

"From Artexerxes to our own time the complete history has been written but has not been deemed worthy of equal credit with the earlier records because of the failure of the exact succession of the prophets." ... "We have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another, but only twenty-two books, which contain the records of all the past times; which are justly believed to be divine..."(Flavius Josephus, Against Apion 1:8)

12.The Manual of Discipline in the Dead Sea Scrolls rejected the apocrypha as inspired.

13.The Council of Jamnia held the same view and rejected the apocrypha as inspired.

They debated the canonicity of a few books (e.g., Ecclesiastes), but they changed nothing and never proclaimed themselves to be authoritative determiners of the Old Testament canon. "The books which they decided to acknowledge as canonical were already generally accepted, although questions had been raised about them. Those which they refused to admit had never been included. They did not expel from the canon any book which had previously been admitted. 'The Council of Jamnia was the confirming of public opinion, not the forming of it.'" (F. F. Bruce, The Books and Parchments [Old Tappan, NJ.: Fleming H. Revell, 1963], p. 98])

14.Although it was occasionally quoted in early church writings, it was nowhere accepted in a canon. Melito (AD 170) and Origen rejected the Apocrypha, (Eccl. Hist. VI. 25, Eusebius) as does the Muratorian Canon.

15.Jerome vigorously resisted including the Apocrypha in his Latin Vulgate Version (400 AD), but was overruled. As a result, the standard Roman Catholic Bible throughout the medieval period contained it. Thus, it gradually came to be revered by the average clergyman. Still, many medieval Catholic scholars realized that it was not inspired.

16.The terms "protocanonical" and "deuterocanonical" are used by Catholics to signify respectively those books of Scripture that were received by the entire Church from the beginning as inspired, and those whose inspiration came to be recognized later, after the matter had been disputed by certain Fathers and local churches.

17.Pope Damasus (366-384) authorized Jerome to translate the Latin Vulgate. The Council of Carthage declared this translation as "the infallible and authentic Bible." Jerome was the first to describe the extra 7 Old Testament books as the "Apocrypha" (doubtful authenticity). Needless to say, Jerome's Latin Vulgate did not include the Apocrypha.
18.Cyril (born about A.D. 315) - "Read the divine Scriptures - namely, the 22 books of the Old Testament which the 72 interpreters translated" (the Septuagint)

19.The apocrypha wasn't included at first in the Septuagint, but was appended by the Alexandrian Jews, and was not listed in any of the catalogues of the inspired books till the 4th century

20.Hilary (bishop of Poictiers, 350 A.D.) rejected the apocrypha (Prologue to the Psalms, Sec. 15)

21.Epiphanius (the great opposer of heresy, 360 A.D.) rejected them all. Referring to Wisdom of Solomon & book of Jesus Sirach, he said "These indeed are useful books & profitable, but they are not placed in the number of the canonical."

http://www.bible.ca/catholic-apocrypha.htm

Moved this here.

The following quote has been read in different ways. I explored this several years back.



Ellen White referred to the Apocrypha as the hidden book. The Apocrypha, from the Greek, means "hidden". These are books which were rejected as a part of the King James Version. These writings and others were regarded as pseudepigrapha because of the false names given the authors. And they contain teachings that are in direct opposition to the Inspired Canon.

Let us now look at the context of Ellen White's statement.

This is from the White Estate:

"A report signed by three early believers where reference is made to the HIDDEN BOOK as ELLEN WHITE uttered certain words in vision. HERE IS THE ACCOUNT:
Chapter Title: Ellen G. White and the Apocrypha
"At another time at a meeting held at brother Curtis' home in Topsham, Maine, she was taken off in vision, and arose to her feet, took the large family bible from the table, and held it on her hand some time at an angle of forty-five degrees, and said the hidden book was not there.
When some one asked if the Apocrypha was not in the Bible, brother Curtis remarked it was not. She talked sometime about the hidden book. No one knew but brother Curtis' family that the apocrypha [apocrypha] was not there.
In the report of the vision given to Ellen White at Oswego, New York on January 11, 1850,
In a manuscript carrying a copying date of January 28, 1850. Ellen White makes a reference to the hidden book. Her description of what was shown to her in the vision contains many items and the manuscript, as on file comprises four and a quarter type-written pages. Near the close of her lengthy statement we find this reference to the hidden book:
"All, all who keep the commandments of God, will enter in through the gates into the city and have right to the tree of life and ever be in the presence of that lovely Jesus whose countenance shines brighter than the sun at noon day. I then saw the word of God pure and unadulterated, and that we must answer for the way we received the truth proclaimed from that word. I saw that it had been a hammer to break the flinty heart in pieces, and a fire to consume the dross and tin, that the heart might be pure and holy. I saw that the Apocrypha was the hidden book, and that the wise of these last days should understand it. I saw that the Bible was the standard book, that will judge us at the last day. I saw that heaven would be cheap enough, and that nothing was too dear to sacrifice for Jesus, and that we must give all to enter the kingdom."-- Manuscript 4,
1850 , (A copy of E. G. White's Vision which she had at Oswego, N.Y.)"

______

NOTE THIS CAREFULLY NOW:
Ellen White lifts up the Bible and declares:
1) The hidden book is not there! The people present understand this to mean the apocrypha was not part of that Bible.
2) She then declares THE BIBLE to "be word of God pure and unadulterated, and that we must answer for the way we received the truth proclaimed from that word."
3) She then says the apocrypha is a hidden book that the wise will have some kind of understanding about!
_______
It would seem much more conclusive to understand this to be a warning,
A WARNING AGAINST,
not a recommendation for, the apocrypha.
The Bible, as she held it there in her hands --a Bible —WITHOUT the "hidden book", the apocrypha, — is the sure, pure word, the standard book, that will judge us at the last day, therefore let the wise understand about this hidden book.

LET THE WISE UNDERSTAND ABOUT THIS APOCRYPHA which has been known as the "hidden book" for millennia. The whole apocrypha is known as the "hidden book" apocrypha means "hidden".

----

IS THERE ANY DOUBT AS ONE LOOKS CLOSELY AT THIS WHAT THE WISE WILL UNDERSTAND IN THE LAST DAYS.

Can we see that the apocrypha is the very tool in the hand of the false doctrines, to deceive!

It is very reasonable to believe that Ellen White may well have used some lines from the apocrypha when she first began the difficult task of penning out the visions of God at the age of seventeen. Remember at that time she was sickly and had only grade three education. The apocrypha was part of the family Bible in her parents home. Some of the pictures revealed to her by God in vision were readily described by a few things written in Esdras.

This brings into focus and explains why several things, when later edited, were changed in her writings as God more fully revealed His truth to Ellen.

As Ellen White stood there in vision in Oswego in 1850 God told her something about the "hidden book". In her hand was the pure Bible which alone was to be the standard! The Pure Bible, without the hidden book.

What was her response to this message from God?
WHAT WAS HER RESPONSE?

She realized the truth on this matter. She began to understand about "the hidden" book. She became wise!
AND STOPPED using it.
Not only did she stop using it, but her messages clearly outline the errors which are promoted as doctrines by others, but have roots in the apocrypha.

If God really told her the apocrypha had important messages, why did it fade away in importance in SDA Bible study? The truth is that the opposite was revealed — The Apocrypha is NOT part of the pure Bible. Those who would withstand the deceptions of the last days will be wise about the apocrypha and it's unbiblical doctrines.

The Word of God, pure and unadulterated, WITHOUT THE Apocrypha, is the Bible, which is the standard Book, that will judge us at the last day. The wise will understand this.

Dedication, the vision at Topsham Maine is where she held the Bible without the Apocrapha. That account, signed by the three witnesses, appears in Arthur White's comments in 1985 reproduced below. You seem to be lumping that with her later vision in Oswego NY where she makes the comment you quote. The following statement written in 1969 by Arthur White, grandson of Ellen White, and found in Manuscript Releases 15, Page 65-67 gives a brief history of Ellen White’s use and position on it.


This was Arthur White’s view. But let the reader be the judge. In my view we should give due weight to the fact that Ellen White never retracted her statements on the apocrypha and so, all things considered, her position throughout her life appears to be that certain apocryphal books outside of the Bible are inspired and should be studied but that these should not be promoted to the public: In her view, the apocrypha was hidden but the “wise should understand it.” In other words her silence in later years is consistent with her visions and instruction from the Lord that the books are hidden.

The Catholic view -- they regard the Apocrypha as writings that need to be accepted.


The terms "hidden book" this doesn't mean the same as "sealed book", rather it refers to esoteric knowledge meant for those getting initiated into the mystical arts, those initiated learning secrets unknown to regular folks.

I believe when God told EGW that this was a "hidden book" it was impressed on her mind that she should have nothing to do with "secret society" "esoteric knowledge" type of writings.

The very fact that she never again quoted from these books after this was revealed to her, should bear heavily that God warned her about it's esoteric character.



Will it be used for that purpose in the future by the Catholic church? Should this happen, the Council of Trent would be vindicated! At this council a decree was issued placing the uncanonical books on par with the Inspired Word.

If these apocryphal books were accepted by our church as inspired, we would have no safeguard against Roman Catholic false teachings.

That the Apocrypha seems to have some passages that are inconsistent with scripture is not the greatest hurdle to using them. Scripture itself seems to have inconsistent passages but we know that all scripture is inspired and if there are apparent inconsistencies, the problem is with our understanding.

The bigger issue is that there is no universal agreement among Christians about which books should be in it. The most frequently quoted book in early Adventists publications is 2 Esdras which is not part of the Catholic Apocrypha but is part of the Orthodox. For that reason alone the reader should beware. My advice would be, given Ellen White's endorsement that the wise will understand it we should read the books prayerfully as we would books by any author, knowing that they may contain error and holding all of their contents up to the test of scripture.

I've been blessed in reading certain ones. The majority appear to harmonize with the Bible. Some I'm not able to reconcile with scripture such as Maccabees.